Scotland's leading literary newspaper, the Scottish Review of Books, has joined forces with Aberdeen University to launch a major competition to help discover a new generation of budding essayists.

Writers of all ages and nationalities are being invited to pen 3000 words 'On Being Modern-Minded', for the University of Aberdeen/Scottish Review of Books Essay Prize.

The winning entry will be published in the Edinburgh Festival edition of the Scottish Review of Books, in August, and its author will receive £500, plus a day with Rosemary Goring, the literary editor of the Herald/Sunday Herald, and her partner, Alan Taylor, editor of the SRB.

The SRB is published quarterly, and appears in the Saturday edition of The Herald. The essay prize is a part of a partnership with the SRB which will include literary events and writing masterclasses for staff and students.